KV8 Pro Powering Down By Itself Before Post

[Phatswalla]

I'm putting together a new system and am having a lot of trouble getting it to post. Hopefully some of you will have some ideas.

The system consists of:

Abit KV8 Pro (K8T800 Pro chipset)
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1 MB L2 Cache
ATI 9700 Pro
2x 512meg Kingston PC3200
Antec 400watt PSU

The motherboard has a Post Code device and it always does the following:

1) Holds 83 for rougly five seconds
2) Holds 9C for one or two seconds
3) flashes 9E
4) Holds 9F for a second or two before it shuts down

83 codes for "Save all data in stack back to CMOS"
none of the codes that begin with "9" are in the manual

I've tried clearing the cmos and have unplugged anything non-essential. I've also selectively taken out the video card, ram and even the cpu in different combinations and the same thing happens every time. I've also tried plugging in a 6000 rpm fan into the cpu header in case it was a cpu overheat protection feature that was shutting the motherboard down and it still doesn't work.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mechBgon]

Sorry to ask a dumb question but did you get your ATX12V cable plugged in? Sounds like you're pretty sharp with troubleshooting, so I rather doubt it, but... Ditto for the auxiliary power for the video card?

Also, could it be a mechanically-troubled Power button on your case? You know that if you hold the power button down for about five seconds, the system will power down. An internally-stuck button switch can simulate that. If that were the case, and the button thinks it's being pressed all the time, then you would know because your system would try to start the moment you gave the PSU power by plugging it into the wall. Does it do that?

 

[Phatswalla]

Yes the ATX12V cable is plugged in, but it does the same thing whether it is plugged in or not.

I just tried the power switch thing and it doesn't start up when I first plug it in.

I can have nothing but the ATX Power plug plugged in or everything plugged in and it'll do the same thing.

 

[mechBgon]

Hmmms... the jumper for clearing the CMOS isn't accidentally in the Clear position, is it? For that matter, have you tried clearing the CMOS yet? Might not hurt. Also try removing all the case wiring except the Power button wire, if you haven't yet. That includes USB and Firewire wiring. If that isn't helping, next thing I'd do is to take it out of the case and lay it on cardboard, and test it in open air like that. Good luck!

 

[Phatswalla]

yeah CMOS is in the normal position

I just took it out from the case and now it stays on but it still won't post

It's now stuck on the code "04" which wondefully is also not in the manual and beeps at regular intervals, but at least it's staying powered up.

 

[mechBgon]

~ huh.

Do you have a different video card you could try in there just to confirm that it's not the video card? Or can you test the RAM, PSU and video card in another system to help narrow down what the problem could be?

Also, it might be worth it to take the heatsink/fan off the CPU , raise the lever, hold the CPU down firmly and lock it down again. I've heard a couple of people say this got them past their impasse on various systems (P4 and A64).

 

[Phatswalla]

I think the board might be a bad one. I've stuck in ram, video card and PSU from my other machine that I know works fine. Heh, I've also taken the cpu out and put it back several times. This one has me stumped, I can't think of anything else to do. The beeping is also starting to sound different every time I turn it on.

 

[DarkSarkas]

Also, a quick note that I've seen stump many seasoned troubleshooters: Look on your PSU, there should be a little 110/220v switch. Make sure it's in the correct position, otherwise your system will only power on, not post. (Should be in the 110 position).

Other than that, make sure the RAM is seated correctly, and try that popping the processor technique, I've had that fix problems a couple of times.

Good luck.